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Tag: Entertainment – Variety

  • Chloe Fineman Says ‘SNL’ Boss Lorne Michaels Was at World Cup Match When She Called to Say She Was Leaving the Show

    Chloe Fineman Says ‘SNL’ Boss Lorne Michaels Was at World Cup Match When She Called to Say She Was Leaving the Show

    “Saturday Night Live” boss Lorne Michaels was a bit tied up when Chloe Fineman called to say she was leaving the show.

    “In classic form, he was watching England vs. Argentina,” Fineman told Variety at Monday night’s premiere of Apple TV’s “The Dink” in Los Angeles. “He was like, ‘I’ll call you back. I’m a the game.’ And I was like, ‘The soccer game?’ Then I made a joke, I was like, ‘I assume you’re rooting for England because you’re energetically very British.’ Then he called me back, and we had a really lovely chat.”

    Fineman also shared that when the news of her “SNL” exit went live, she was very emotional.

    “I cried when it was announced,” she said. “You really become a family [with the cast]… I wept when Colin Jost called me today, like, they really are my family. I’m happy that after seven years, I leave on a high note.”

    Fineman announced on July 16 that she was exiting the show. “After 7 wonderful seasons at ‘SNL’ I have decided it’s time for my next chapter,” Fineman wrote in an Instagram post. She concluded, “It’s really hard to leave ‘SNL’ but it does feel like the right time. I’m going to miss it a lot. But the people who work there are my family and that place is my home, and I know I’ll never be too far away.”

    The actor-comedian joined “SNL” in 2019. She quickly became known for her range of impressions, which included Jennifer Coolidge, Timothée Chalamet, Drew Barrymore, Britney Spears and JoJo Siwa.

    Fineman’s first post-“SNL” gig will be as a series regular role in the “Myron Bolitar” series currently in the works at Netflix. Series regulars will also include Jabari Banks (“Bel Air”) and Jamie McShane (“Task,” “Wednesday”). Ben McKenzie (“Everyone is Lying to You for Money,” “Gotham”) will appear in a recurring guest star role.

    Series leads include Colin Woodell, KJ Apa, and Diane Guerrero. Netflix originally announced the series pickup in May as part of their upfront presentation to advertisers. The show is inspired by Harlan Coben’s popular Myron Bolitar books, of which 12 have been published. The logline for the show states, “After an injury ends his NBA dreams, Myron Bolitar (Woodell) reinvents himself as a sports agent — using charm, smarts, and a ruthless partner to navigate the high-stakes and dirty world of sports, where saving his clients often means risking himself.”

    In addition to Fineman, the cast of “The Dink,” a sports comedy about pickleball, includes Jake Johnson, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Patton Oswalt, Martin Kove, Mary Steenburgen and Ed Harris, as well as tennis legends Andy Roddick and John McEnroe.

    “The Dink” premieres on Apple TV on July 24.

  • LISTEN: Christopher Nolan Gets Moviegoers Out in Force for the Trojan Horse

    LISTEN: Christopher Nolan Gets Moviegoers Out in Force for the Trojan Horse

    On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, in our Box Office segment, Variety’s Rebecca Rubin breaks down the spectacular $264 million worldwide opening for Universal Pictures’ “The Odyssey.” It couldn’t have come at a better time for Imax, the large-format exhibitor that delivered more than 50% of the opening weekend receipts.

    Anticipation for Nolan’s follow-up to 2023’s “Oppenheimer” was so strong that there was little doubt that the $250 million production would open big. But the final figures demonstrates just how solidly “The Odyssey” was able to mobilize audiences across the world.

    “What’s most impressive is the fact that this movie had such a big opening weekend for an R-rated sword and sandal epic. Christopher Nolan is really the only director who could pull something like this off at the budget that he did and justify the spend from the studio,” Rubin says. “He has really solidified himself as a brand at the box office, and he’s one of the very, very rare directors today who can get people to go out to the movies just because he is putting out a new film. It doesn’t even matter what the genre is, what type of film it is. People just want to see whatever he is making next.”

    Rubin notes that the opening weekend audience was about 55% men, and a big chunk of the crowd was on the younger side for this genre of film.

    “People have been joking that it’s the quintessential dad movie,” Rubin says. “But what was pretty significant to me is that 50% of audiences were between the ages of 18 and 34, which means he really got the younger crowds in there. If this was in the hands of a different director, I think it could be a movie that skewed much older. Love Matt Damon — he is more of a Gen X star. A lot of the cast is millennials, and so they might not have gotten that younger crowd. But [Nolan] really did incentivize all audiences to go. That is the difference between having a decent opening weekend and a phenomenal opening weekend — he was able to get all ages. I think is going to really help the film in the coming weeks.”

    Listen to Daily Variety on iHeartPodcasts, Apple Podcasts, Variety’s YouTube Podcast channel, Amazon Music, Spotify and other podcast platforms.

  • Sharon Stone on Quitting Weed and Stopping a Stroke Medication Despite Doctors’ Orders: ‘It Was Like Going Off of F—ing Heroin’

    Sharon Stone on Quitting Weed and Stopping a Stroke Medication Despite Doctors’ Orders: ‘It Was Like Going Off of F—ing Heroin’

    Sharon Stone is done smoking weed.

    Her journey to cut ties with cannabis began when she was put on several medications after she suffered a near-fatal stroke in 2001.

    “I got off one of my medications that I was on for my stroke last September, and they said I couldn’t go off of it,” Stone tells me. “They said, ‘You can’t go off of it. You can never go off of it.’ I’m like, ‘I’m going off it,’ and it was like going off of fucking heroin. I was sick as a frigging dog for four and a half months. I just thought, ‘I want my life back.’ I had gotten off the majority of the drugs over the years that they had put me on. But I was like, ‘I want a drug-free life.’”

    She continues, “Once I got off that, I decided I’m going to quit smoking pot. And because I think they put so much stuff in it now — they really do — when I stopped smoking pot, I also got sick. It’s not like you’re pulling it out of the ground anymore. It’s not like when we were kids. I got pretty sick for a month. I went to my neurologist, and he said, ‘Sharon, I’ve had people dying in the emergency room from marijuana.’”

    Stone is sitting poolside at her Beverly Hills estate on a Monday afternoon. Just minutes before, I watched her paint on a large canvas in a guest house she’s turned into an art studio. At the same time, photographer Tyler Chick is shooting her for digital magazine Nineteen92. The day is also being chronicled by a group of young people from Social Network Studios, a social media management and branding company founded by her eldest son, Roan, that runs Stone’s social media.

    “I had four or five million followers [on Instagram], but not that much engagement,” Stone says. Roan overhauled her feed. “Now, I have millions in engagement.”

    But that also meant Roan had to modify who she was following. “People wrote me nasty letters. Why am I not following them anymore?” Stone says. “People got outraged that they were not being followed anymore, as if like this was a real relationship. As if I had a personal relationship with someone I was following on Instagram, someone I had never met.”

    While Stone’s painting career has taken off over the last few years, the art form isn’t new to her. The Pennsylvania native studied fine arts in college before she dropped out to pursue a modeling career. “I went to New York with 50 bucks and a suitcase,” she says.

    The creative spark was reignited during the COVID lockdown. What began as a few canvases and some paints in her bedroom turned into a sometimes around-the-clock obsession. Before she knew it, Stone transformed her bedroom into a makeshift art studio. “I moved all the furniture out of my bedroom. Before very long, I gave away my bedroom furniture and gotten a small bed,” Stone recalls. “I was living in like this French artist loft with this bed in front of the fireplace. I had this beautiful bedroom, but I put nails in the wall like I wasn’t living in this gorgeous house. I just put nails in this beautiful wall. Started buying bigger canvases. Brought a big table up there. Threw sheets on the floor. Months went by, months and months.”

    Stone paints in her studio.

    Alexander Moura

    Her sons – Roan and his brothers, Laird and Quinn – became worried and intervened. “They come in and they say to me, ‘Mom, we just think that you should wear a bra.’” Stone says. “I’m like, ‘This is the same conversation my dad had with me in the 70s.’ Didn’t work then. Not going to work now. Thanks for your concern. Have a lovely day.”

    They were able to persuade Stone to move her painting to the guest house. “I’m selling my work in galleries all around the world now,” she says.

    Stone poses for photographer Tyler Chick and creative director Andrew Matarazzo.

    Alexander Moura

    She also returned to modeling in June by walking a runway for the first time in 33 years as the closing model of the Vetements menswear show in Paris. “I really liked meeting the designer [Guram Gvasalia] because he’s very talented, and I think very clever, and he’s doing something which is to me quite punk,” Stone says. “And you know, I was actually around for punk, so I like punk a lot. I truly identify with punk.”

    She also couldn’t help but think of her early days modeling in Europe. “When I was 19, I had a 38-year-old boyfriend who was a designer, a silk designer, and I knew all of the designers because of him,” Stone recalls. “We traveled all over the world together. We dated on and off for 30 years. We’re still best friends.”

    Was marriage ever considered? “He would have married me, but I did not want to live in Europe,” Stone explains. “I knew I was going to be an actress. I knew what my destiny was. I really knew when I was little that this is what was going to happen to me. It wasn’t just all about the acting. I knew that I was going to be super famous, and that I had many things I was meant to do. I just knew it.”

    In the last year or so, Stone’s time in front of the camera includes appearances in “Euphoria,” the action comedy “Nobody 2” and the indie dramedy “In Memoriam.”

    Stone hopes a Broadway debut is in her future. She tells me she tried to secure the rights for a stage production of “All About Eve.” “I could be a good Margo Channing,” she says of the role of the aging Broadway star originated by Bette Davis in the 1950 film. “I mean, in my sleep. Let’s go. Come on. When she goes, ‘I hate men.’”

    An outtake from Stone’s Nineteen92 shoot by Alexander Moura.

    Stone says she’s been offered Broadway roles, but nothing ever felt right. She also revealed to me that she recently pitched an idea to her agent. “I was like, ‘Can we get ‘Mame’ and reset it in the punk era?” she says. “I could work at a department store in New York and get a biracial kid and be Mame in the punk era. The kid could have a mohawk. I would have bleached blonde Blondie hair. I could get Debbie Harry to do the music and Billy Idol.”

    Another idea brewing is a gender swap adaptation of “La Cage Aux Folles,” the Tony-winning musical about a gay couple operating a drag club who try to go back into the closet for just one night when the son of one of the men brings his conservative future in-laws to dinner. “’La Cage’ with two lesbians,” Stone says. “I play the lipstick lesbian and you find a big butch lesbian who has to fem it up.”

    But then she adds laughing, “I tell people these ideas and they just look at me and are like, ‘What the fuck are you taking?’”

    But as we now know, Stone is hardly taking anything these days. In fact, she says, “This has been a period for me in this last year of really reclaiming my life.”

  • Peter Lassally, Legendary Late Night Producer for Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, Dies at 93

    Peter Lassally, Legendary Late Night Producer for Johnny Carson, David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, Dies at 93

    Peter Lassally, the dean of late night producers who worked with Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show,” David Letterman on “Late Show” and Craig Ferguson on “The Late Late Show,” has died. He was 93.

    Lassally was long dubbed the “host whisperer” for helping steer some of the biggest franchises of all time in late night. He worked with Carson until that host retired in 1992; after that, he joined forces with Letterman, who had hoped to take the “Tonight” mantle but was famously passed over for the gig. That’s when Lassally, joining Letterman’s Worldwide Pants shingle, was instrumental in helping Letterman decide to leave NBC and create an entirely new “Late Show” franchise at CBS.

    Under Letterman’s deal with CBS, Worldwide Pants also programmed the 12:37 a.m. slot with “The Late Late Show” — which Lassally executive produced in its first incarnation with Tom Snyder. When it later went to Craig Kilborn, Lassally semi-retired, but when Craig Ferguson took over in 2005, Lassally served as the show’s executive producer.

    “Peter had two loves in his life that lasted more than a half-century, the first with his lovely wife, Alice, and the second with the world of talk television,” said Michael Naidus, who worked with Lassally on Ferguson’s “Late Late Show” as showrunner. “Each of those love affairs was a two-way street.  Quite literally, hundreds of millions of people owe their late-night smiles and laughs to this beautiful soul, whose gift for finding extraordinary talent and honing it is unmatched and unrivaled. 

    “And all the while, Peter took such joy from the moments he helped create, that his grin was as ubiquitous as his daily sliced apple,” he added. “Whatever little I gave to the format is because he was kind and patient enough to teach it to me. It’s traditional to say ‘he will be missed’ in these circumstances, but the truth is Peter was and is irreplaceable.”

    Lassally retired in 2015, as Ferguson departed “The Late Late Show,” overseeing guest hosts before James Corden took over.

    In a 2015 Variety profile, then-CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler referred to Lassally as “the strong, silent type,” with an unerring ability to “diagnose problems with surgical precision” and a nurturing attitude that elicited the best from the big personalities with whom he’s dealt, as well as with the show’s staffs. “He’s kind of ego-less,” Tassler noted. “There’s a comfort he derives from not wanting or needing to be in the spotlight.”

    An NBC spokesperson shared, “When Johnny Carson and David Letterman needed counsel and an honest opinion, they immediately went to Peter Lassally, the professor of late night. His relationship to each of these giants was immeasurable and both of them would undoubtedly say his contribution to their success was so impactful that it would be difficult to put in words. A quiet man whose influence and stature spoke volumes, Peter’s brilliance was in shaping what we watch, how we watch and why late night was, and remains, vitally significant.”

    Lassally was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1932 to a Jewish family that later had to flee to the Netherlands with the rise of Nazi Germany. While there, Lassally’s sister went to school with Anne Frank, and he, his mother and sister were imprisoned in the Westerbork transit camp and later in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. After surviving the Holocaust, Lassally and his family moved to New York in 1947.

    Lassally was a part of TV from the very beginning, joining the NBC page program at age 19 and serving as a Radio City Music Hall usher alongside his pal Regis Philbin. He worked in radio, then moved to Arthur Godfrey’s popular program.

    He joined “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” in the 1970s, rising to executive producer until Carson’s retirement. From there, he moved to “Late Night with David Letterman,” and then helped establish “Late Show” with Letterman. (That franchise, which later continued under Stephen Colbert, recently wrapped following CBS’ surprise cancellation.)

    Lassally’s final act in late night was identifying comedian Craig Ferguson (then known mostly for his role on “Drew Carey”) and transforming him into a talk show host — which ultimately, as Ferguson grew into the role, became a critically acclaimed, unique late night outpost.

    Lassally won two Emmy awards over the years, while discovering and nurturing multiple generations of talent.

    He was preceded in death by his wife, Alice Lassally, and is survived by his daughter, Andrea Gibbin (Chris Gibbin); his son, 3 Arts’ Tom Lassally (Romi Lassally); and his four grandchildren, Walker Gibbin, Eloise Gibbin, Annabel Lassally, and Owen Lassally.

  • Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Ties Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s Records on Billboard Hot 100

    Ella Langley’s ‘Choosin’ Texas’ Ties Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey’s Records on Billboard Hot 100

    The year’s biggest hit single, Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” has racked up its 14th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — and has tied a record held by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

    Langley’s song, which first topped the Hot 100 chart in February, ties Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” and Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” for the most weeks at No. 1, apart from holiday singles by female performers with no male-billed acts. That caveat is of course for Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which has totaled some 22 weeks across seven years.

    Along the way, Langley — pictured above winning the Academy of Country Music’s award for female artist of the year in May — has passed Brandy & Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine” with 13 weeks, Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women Part I” and Toni Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart,” both with 11.

    “Choosin’ Texas” racked up 24 million official streams (down 4% week over week) and 51 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 1%), with 7,000 copies sold in the U.S. for the week of July 10-16.

    Elsewhere on the chart, fast-rising country star Stella Lefty scored her first Hot 100 top 10, with “Boston” climbing to No. 6, and Olivia Dean topped the Radio Songs chart with “So Easy (To Fall in Love),” climbing from No. 12 to 9 on the Hot 100. It passes Dean’s other smash, “Man I Need,” which slips from No. 5 to 10. It continues a remarkable run for the British singer, as both songs have peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100 and have been on the charts for 41 and 46 weeks, respectively.

  • Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze Surf Back into Theaters for ‘Point Break’s’ 35th Anniversary – Film News in Brief

    Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze Surf Back into Theaters for ‘Point Break’s’ 35th Anniversary – Film News in Brief

    Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze are surfing back to the big screen in celebration of “Point Break‘s” 35th anniversary.

    A new 4k restoration will be released by Resurgence Media Group, Saga Arts and Fathom Entertainment. The film will hit theaters on Aug. 16 and 19.

    Surfer Matt Archbold will present an exclusive introduction ahead of the film. Also serving as a surf double for Swayze, Archbold helped teach the two leading actors and other cast members how to surf and will share behind-the-scenes stories from production.

    Originally released in 1991 the film follows “a gang of bank robbers call themselves the Ex-Presidents and commit their crimes while wearing masks of Reagan, Carter, Nixon and Johnson. The FBI believes that the members of the gang could be surfers and sends young agent Johnny Utah (Reeves) undercover at the beach to mix with the surfers and gather information. As he is drawn deeper into the world of charismatic surfer Bodhi (Swayze) and his thrill-seeking crew, Utah must decide where his loyalties lie.”

    Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film also stars Gary Busey, Lori Petty, John C. McGinley, James LeGros and Anthony Kiedis.

    “Few films have built a following as loyal as ‘Point Break’s,’ said Shannah Miller, the vice president of marketing at Fathom Entertainment. “Thirty-five years after it first hit theaters, this newly restored 4K version gives that devoted following exactly what they’ve been asking for: Bodhi, Johnny Utah and those legendary surfing and skydiving sequences, back where they belong on the big screen.”

    Tickets for Point Break 35th Anniversary are available now online and at participating theatre box offices.

    Monday, July 20

    ‘Hudson & Maria’: Wiliam Mosely and Poppy Drayton Set to Join Cast

    William Mosely (“Chronicles of Narnia”) is set to join the cast of “Hudson & Maria.”

    Half Crown Media in association with Burns & Co. Entertainment also announced that Mosely will play Hudson Taylor, with Poppy Drayton (“Charmed”) playing his wife, Maria, and Ludi Lin (“Power Rangers”) as Hudson’s friend, Wang Laijun.

    Also starring in the film are Jeremy Swift (“Ted Lasso”), Tan Kheng Hua (“Crazy Rich Asians”), Rupert Graves (“Sherlock”), Darren Lim (“The Little Nyonya”), Jemma Donovan (“Jimmy”), Catriona Munro (“NCIS: Sydney”), Ben Van Lier (“M3GAN 2.0”), Wang Wei (“Unexpected Falling”), Matt William Knowles (“Son of the South”), Kate Sullivan (“The Season”), Vanessa Yao (“Kung Fu”) and Cedric Gegel (“Capture”).

    Production is set to start filming in Malaysia this August.

    Set during the Opium Wars of 19th-century China, “Hudson & Maria” follows the true story of Hudson Taylor, an English missionary who rejects colonial norms and adopts Chinese language, customs and dress as he seeks to share God’s love in inland China. The story follows him through his missionary work, traveling with his wife Maria and good friend, Wang Laijun. They endure hardship and persecution to tell a powerful story that has become legend.

    Matt Mikalatos will serve as director and screenwriter with Aaron Burns, Jack McClintock and David Cook producing. James Hudson Taylor IV, Ken Haron and Angela Galgani Sullivan will executive produce.

  • Variety Interview Studio Presented by Google TV Returns to San Diego

    Variety Interview Studio Presented by Google TV Returns to San Diego

    Variety’s Interview Studio will return to San Diego on July 24-25 in partnership with Google TV featuring  a lineup of in-depth interviews and conversations with leading talent and creators.

    “This event has become a defining fixture of the entertainment industry, uniting the creative community, talent, and fans in a celebration of storytelling and culture,” said Dea Lawrence, co-president and publisher, Variety. “We’re delighted to once again partner with Google TV and Nintendo to create an unforgettable experience that brings super-fans together.” 

    This year’s conversations will include the following:  

    • Jack Quaid, Alice Lee, Ishmel Sahid, Kiana Madeira, Jake Wyatt, Brendan Clogher, Karen Graci (“My Adventures With Superman”) 
    • Jacob Anderson, Eric Bogosian, Assad Zaman, Sheila Atim, Rolin Jones, Hannah Moscovitch, Mark Johnson (“Vampire Lestat”) 
    • Walker Scobell, Aryan Simhadri, Charlie Bushnell, Tamara Smart, Levi Chrisopulos, Olive  Abercrombie (“Percy Jackson and the Olympians”) 
    • Eric Nam, Román Zaragoza, Jessica Matten, Dionne Quan, Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante  DiMartino, Lauren Montgomery (“Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender”) 
    • Utkarsh Ambudkar, Asher Grodman, Sheila Carrasco, Román Zaragoza (“Ghosts”); Ed Weeks, Allegra Edwards, Jaren Lewison, Helen J. Shen, Parker Young (“Eternally Yours”) 
    • Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool, Mike Dirnt, Mason Thames, Lee Kirk (“Nimrods”) 
    • Mike Flanagan, Summer H. Howell, Samantha Sloyan, Siena Agudong, Alison Thornton, Amber Midthunder, Matthew Lillard (“Carrie”) 
    • Michelle Yeoh, Hunter Schafer, Silka Luisa (“Blade Runner 2099”)  
    • David Giuntoli, Elizabeth Tulloch, Russell Hornsby, Silas Weir Mitchell, Bree Turner, Reggie Lee, Sasha Roiz, Alexis Denisof, David Greenwalt (“Grimm”) 
    • Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Paul Wesley, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Christina Chong, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers (“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”) 
    • Alan Ritchson, Maria Sten (“Reacher & Neagley”) 
    • Lana Condor, Dave Green (“Coyote vs. Acme”) 
    • Rebecca Ferguson, Common, Alexandria Riley, Ashley Zukerman, Jessica Henwick, Graham Yost (“Silo”) 
    • Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lauren Cohan, Seth Hoffman (“The Walking Dead: Dead City”) 
    • Benjamin Walker, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniel Weyman, Jamie Campbell Bower, Ismmael Cruz Córdova, Owain Arthur, Charlie Vickers, Patrick McKay, J.D Payne (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”) 

    “At Google TV, we are passionate about celebrating creative excellence,” said Shalini Govil-Pai, VP & GM of TV Platforms at Google. “We are proud to continue our partnership with Variety, shining a spotlight on the brilliant directors, actors, and talent who push the boundaries of storytelling.”  

    The Interview Studio Lounge will host an exclusive Nintendo gaming activation where talent and cast members can face off in friendly matches of “Nintendo Switch Sports Resort” on the Nintendo Switch 2 system. This first-look experience will give guests access to the game ahead of its official release, creating organic opportunities for social content, cast interaction, and lighthearted competition with The Rizzler. The “Splatoon Raiders” game will also be available to play. 

    Conversations from the studio will be published across Variety.com and Variety’s socials.  

  • Jalen Brunson Talks Taylor Swift’s Wedding, Giving Back and Whether the Knicks Will Visit the Trump White House

    Jalen Brunson isn’t sure yet if his New York Knicks will visit the Trump White House after winning the NBA championship and thought it was “really cool” that Taylor Swift was cheering on the team courtside at Madison Square Garden during Game 4 of the NBA Finals. As for Swift’s star-studded wedding at MSG and the rumors that the Knicks’ starting five were invited? He found out the same way the rest of the world did (online) but feels his team’s play may have influenced her choice of wedding venue.

    The King of New York revealed all this during a conversation last week at Variety’s inaugural Sports & Entertainment Studio in New York, which included talks with Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson; NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson; NCAA champion and ESPN analyst Jay Williams; Kristin Lemkau, CEO of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management; Kristyn Cook, EVP at State Farm; and Carolyn Braff, VP of Sports and Entertainment at PepsiCo.

    When asked whether, as media reports indicated, he and the Knicks’ starting five got the invite to the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce wedding at MSG, Brunson offers, “It’s a great question. I found out the same way the rest of the world did. So, I don’t know if it was true or not, but I did not attend.”

    He does think, however, think the team’s historic NBA championship run, earning the Knicks its first title in 53 years and rousing the entire city, could have played a part in Swift and Kelce getting married at the place dubbed the “World’s Most Famous Arena.” “Maybe. Maybe,” he replies. “But knowing how weddings work, I feel like that may have been predetermined a while back, but especially knowing how tightly scheduled the Garden is, I don’t know. But it was definitely, probably, clearly a memorable night for them.”

    Swift, meanwhile, received some blowback from Knicks’ fans for cheering the team on courtside at Game 4 of the NBA Finals at MSG, even though she’d recently appeared courtside with her then-fiancé Kelce, an Ohio native who was rooting for the opposing Cleveland Cavaliers against the Knicks. But Brunson enjoyed having her root for his team. “Yeah, it’s cool. It’s really cool having her there,” he maintains. “I feel like her being in Cleveland for courtside one game, obviously, I think Travis and the Kelces are from Ohio, so I get that. And she’s been at the Knicks’ games before. So, I mean, whoever comes, as long as you’re cheering us on, we appreciate it. And I think that was probably a really good game to come to as well.”

    As for whether the Knicks will visit the Trump White House, as their owner James Dolan indicated, Brunson can’t say for now. “That’s something that we actually haven’t discussed as a team. And so obviously, people are making assumptions and saying everything, but together we haven’t discussed it yet. And so we’ll cross our bridge when we get to it.”

    When Brunson was informed that if they do visit, they’d be the first NBA team to visit the Trump White House, he replied, “Interesting… Interesting.”

    Brunson was joined by Kristin Lemkau, who not only serves as the CEO of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management but also recruited the New York Knicks star to the JPMorganChase Athlete Council, a “collection of nine athletes who will meet every few months to reflect on their own experiences and inform how JPMC approaches its athlete clients,” with a focus on providing information and resources to younger athletes on how to manage their money. Dwyane Wade is the chair of the Athlete Council, and is joined by Brunson, Tom Brady, Sue Bird, Ally Love, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Kayvon Thibodeaux and A’ja Wilson. “We observed an emerging problem of athletes having a unique set of financial circumstances, which is their careers are often short-lived,” explains Lemkau. “Three years, I think, is about the average professional career. Only 2% of college athletes will ever make it to the pros. And then when their career ends, they need to find a second career and they’re often not as well-equipped to do that or they didn’t actually get a college degree because they went pro right away. And one of the things I’m really proud of in my business, we can offer advice to anyone. We can take somebody who has $5 or Jalen Brunson. And so, I think there’s a responsibility, particularly as this money is going to kids younger and younger and younger, to get them to think about longevity.”

    Getty Images

    Brunson agrees, adding, “Once you start making money, everyone thinks that you’re going to be making this type of money for the rest of your life. And it’s not the case. Like she said, you’re making this money for a very short amount of time. A lot of people have very short careers, and you don’t really end on your own accord… But to be able to have the mindset early of knowing that, ‘Hey… this income isn’t going to last for my entire career or even beyond my career, so how can I be resourceful and start to be smart with my money at an early age?’ It’ll help.”

    Following the Knicks’ championship win, in which Brunson was named NBA Finals MVP and scored 45 points in the close-out game, he had surgery to repair a tendon in his left wrist. Fans — including this writer — were surprised that Brunson turned in a Michael Jordan-esque performance in the Finals with a bum wrist, and he sported a cast to the interview. “I was more in pain when I wasn’t in the game versus when we were actually playing. I feel like the adrenaline took over. But yeah, it was definitely an obstacle, but we found a way through,” he describes, adding, “Because it’s my tendon and my structure, my wrist is fine. There was soft tissue that was holding my tendon and it kept flipping and snapping over the bone every time I shot, every time I flicked my wrist, and so clearly it was causing pain, causing friction… I’ll be in this [cast] for about another six weeks, and then from that point on, it’s just my rehab after that. But I should be good.”

    Brunson co-hosts the popular Playmaker HQ podcast “The Roommates Show” with his Knicks and Villanova teammate (and good pal) Josh Hart, and says he will be “starting a media company.” He’s also keen to cameo on his favorite show, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” starring his favorite fan, Mariska Hargitay.

    “I would love to,” he says of an “SVU” cameo. “Mariska has become a great friend of mine. She was an idol. She was someone I looked up to. I think obviously I feel like everyone who watches this show feels like she’s just a role model for all. And so, she’s still that for me, but then obviously getting to know her, know her family — our family is intertwining. It’s been a great friendship and she’s been very supportive of me and I try to be very supportive of her as well.”

    The Knicks’ championship win has caused a flurry of NBA free agency activity, with a number of rival teams adding major pieces — Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers — to challenge them for the throne. Even though the Knicks lost backup center (and defensive maestro) Mitchell Robinson to the Boston Celtics, Brunson still believes that his team has what it takes to run it back. “Oh, I still have confidence. I will always have confidence in myself and my team,” he declares. “Not because we won, because I know the type of character guys that we have. I know how hard my team works. I know how hard I work. I know what our mindset is. Our mindset is just to get better every single day. And so even though, yes, we did win this past year, going forward that literally means nothing.”

  • Grupo Mórbido’s Pablo Guisa Boards Two Pics at Costa Rica Media Market, Launches Blood Bank Initiative (EXCLUSIVE)

    Grupo Mórbido founder/CEO Pablo Guisa has boarded two projects at the Costa Rica Media Market (CRMM) as a producer, a strong endorsement to the revived market’s growing status as a genre hub.

    Both projects, “Greetings from Maryland” (“Saludos desde Maryland”) by Ricardo B’atz’ of El Salvador and “What Lives in the Storm” (“Lo que trae la tormenta”) by Miguel Angel Ferrer won the Mórbido Co-Production Award at the market, which means an investment of 10% to 20% percent in the productions’ respective budgets from the company. As a producer, Guisa will be engaged at every phase, from creative development to financing.

    Both projects were selected from the Fantastic Lab Central America & Caribbean — the genre film development initiative launched by the Fantastic Pavilion, the Costa Rica Media Market and Grupo Mórbido last year— which in its first edition received 55 submissions from across the region, of which 15 were chosen for intensive development and six finalists announced at Cannes.

    “Coming from a country where filmmaking is built through perseverance rather than industry, partnering with Pablo Guisa and Mórbido is a unique opportunity. Their experience in horror cinema gives ‘Greetings from Maryland’ the chance to grow beyond its local origins and connect with international audiences. Together, we hope to create a horror film that is both terrifying and deeply human, where supernatural fear becomes a reflection of the real horrors faced by migrant workers in the United States,” said B’atz.

    B’atz, who plans to film in El Salvador and is best known for his social realist debut feature “Hoy,” is delving into genre filmmaking for the first time with “Greetings…” Pic centers on undocumented workers demolishing an abandoned house who unleash a cursed entity that hunts them one by one, transforming the horrors of invisible immigrant labor into supernatural terror.

    “We believe in the power of strong creative alliances. Partnering with Pablo Guisa and Grupo Mórbido at this stage in the development of ‘What Lives in the Storm’ is incredibly meaningful. Their vision, experience, and commitment to bold genre storytelling make them the ideal partners as we continue bringing this film to life,” noted Ferrer, who has made several genre shorts and is aiming to shoot “Storm” on the outskirts of Costa Rica’s Caribbean town of Limón.

    A Venezuelan-Cuban-American whose feature “The Shadow of the Sun” represented Venezuela at the 96th Academy Awards. “What Lives in the Storm” follows a reclusive ex-military doctor who shelters a desperate mother and daughter during a fierce Caribbean hurricane, only to find that a horrific creature has also followed them into his home.

    B’atz’ and Ferrer become the first two Latin American directors to join Blood Bank, the new global initiative by Grupo Mórbido and the Fantastic Pavilion, created to “address a structural problem in the global fantastic film industry: The supply is everywhere. The pipeline doesn’t exist,” said Guisa, whose 30+ years in the genre biz has seen him work with the likes of Adrián García Bogliano, Laura Casabe, Cristian Ponce, Edgar Nito, Julio Hernández Cordón, Patricio Valladares and Isaac Ezban.

    “At the Blood Bank, we manage three types of currency: talent, IP and money. Like any bank, we can offer these as separate services to third parties — we can sell talent services, we can sell or license IP, we can finance projects independently. Each of the three pillars can operate on its own for different clients. But we can also work across all three simultaneously — developing original projects with our in-house talent, working with our existing IP library, and producing or co-producing the result. Blood Bank manages assets and builds value across an entire ecosystem — from idea to global release.” Guisa explained.

    “With Mórbido — Fest, TV, Film — Manticora handling distribution, international sales and theatrical release, the Fantastic Pavilion and a presence at every major market in the world, we practically know everyone in the industry. That means we can manage the entire pipeline: from a high concept to pitching at industry events, developing, packaging, co-producing, financing, building marketing strategies, market screenings, festival circuit, theatrical release, streaming, world sales, pay TV, special edition Blu-rays, merchandising and licensing,” he said, adding: “Basically, we can take a project from idea to finished product and get it to audiences worldwide. And now we are doing exactly that — on a global scale.”

  • Variety’s Faith & Media Impact Report 2026: Nominations Are Open

    Variety’s Faith & Media Impact Report 2026: Nominations Are Open

    Variety’s annual Faith & Media Impact Report returns Dec. 2. The list recognizes a thriving segment of the entertainment industry that includes storytellers across the religious spectrum who are offering up compelling and creative experiences featuring faith and spirituality for broad audiences.

    Comprised of directors, writers, creators, studio executives and more working in the entertainment industry at large, the Faith and Media Impact Report recognizes those who have made their mark through authentic and accurate coverage and storytelling across major world faiths and spirituality over the past year.

    Past Faith & Media Impact Report honorees include Mo Amer & Ramy Youssef; Raphael Bob-Waksberg; Jason Momoa & Thomas Pa’a Sibbett; Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen; Spike Lee & Denzel Washington; Mike Flanagan, Smriti Mundhra, Brad Inglesby and Rian Johnson.

    The 2026 list will be profiled in the Dec. 2 issue of Variety and feted at the third annual Variety Faith and Spirituality in Entertainment Honors presented by the Coalition for Faith and Media.

    In addition, the ceremony will honor individuals who are supporting the frequently underrepresented theme of faith and spirituality in entertainment storytelling with the 2026 Visionary Awards presented by CFAM. These awards celebrate diverse portrayals of faith and spirituality that are broadly compelling and nuanced.

    Past Visionary Award recipients include Viola Davis & Julius Tennon, Bridget Everett, Erica Lipez, Tiffany Haddish, Arian Moayed, Zahn McClarnon, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jay Shetty.

    The deadline for submissions is Oct. 2. Candidates or their respective representatives can find more details and submit their relevant qualifications by clicking on this link.